


They don't have stuff like this in Guatemala

by LetMePukeInYourMouthEm



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F, F/M, Get off my back, Hey Zoya did you notice the Melissa & Schaeffer tag?, I do seriously intend to work that in there, I know I won't do it the justice you did though, I really like it okay?, Like I'm going to warn you this gets really weird really fast, Multi, So be ready for some spice, Someone please revoke my writing rights asap, Superpowers, Supervillains, Why Did I Write This?, Why are all my fics so ridiculous?, Yeah I gave the greenpeace girl a name, Yes it's superpowers again, am I okay?, character and relationship tags will probably change tbh, get out while you still can, get used to that with this one, this is just what I'm pretty sure will be in the fic, yeah it's stupid, you read that right
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22750612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetMePukeInYourMouthEm/pseuds/LetMePukeInYourMouthEm
Summary: Emma returns to Hatchetfield after backpacking in Guatemala for ten years to find that while she was gone, she missed everyone in the town getting superpowers.Also supervillains or smn it's complicated
Relationships: Alice & Bill (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Alice & Paul Matthews, Alice/Deb (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Bill & Paul Matthews, Bill & Paul Matthews & Ted, Carol & Colonel Schaeffer (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Carol/Mr. Davidson (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Charlotte/Sam (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Doug/Melissa (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Emma Perkins & Zoey, Henry Hidgens and Emma Perkins kinda, Melissa & Colonel Schaeffer (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals), Nora & Emma Perkins, Paul Matthews & Emma Perkins, Paul Matthews & Melissa, Sam/Zoey (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 62





	1. What's your power?

**Author's Note:**

> This is the dumbest thing I've ever written and I'm having the time of my life

Emma stepped back into Hatchetfield for the first time in ten years and realized that it wasn't quite the same place as it had been when she left it. She had been there for maybe a second when she was greeted by the sight of a teenage girl in a flannel and beanie with her arms around another in a pink blouse and black skirt landing in front of her. She had been flying, fucking _flying_. Something weird had happened to this town when she was gone.

"Hi!" The second girl twittered, holding out her hand for a shake. "I don't think I've seen you before. I'm Alice, and this is my girlfriend, Deb."

"Uh, hey," she uncomfortably shook her hand. "I'm Emma."

"Nice to meet you, Emma. Flight, hydrokinesis," Deb casually motioned to herself, then to Alice, like it was totally normal for them to have superpowers. 

"What's your power?" Alice asked nonchalantly, resting her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. 

"Uh, don't have one," Emma tittered, wondering if she was dreaming. 

"You new around here?" Deb asked. 

"Not technically, but I haven't been here in a while. I moved out ten years ago, then recently decided that I want to live here again." She was starting to wonder if maybe she should reconsider that decision.

"Oh! Then you don't know! Well, then, let's take you to the theater and tell you what happened," Alice smiled, motioning for Emma to follow her and Deb down the street. "Do you want to walk or fly?"

So they were going to keep talking to her. Alright, then. "Uh, walk, preferably."

"Then we'll walk."

"Here's the short story. Four years ago, a meteor crashed into the Starlight Theater, over there in downtown Hatchetfield," Deb explained, pointing down the road in the direction of the theater. Emma remembered the Starlight, it had been there ten years ago. The musicals there had always been really shitty. "The meteor brought spores with it, and they spread throughout the town."

"Over the course of twenty-four hours, the spores gave everyone in Hatchetfield superpowers," Alice continued carefully, like there was something she was leaving out. "There are still some inside the theater. You'll get a power if you breathe them in. Do you want a superpower, Emma?"

Well, that was creepy and a little cult-ish. "Uh, I don't know, maybe?"

"Well, you can think it over, if you'd like," Deb shrugged. "I guess we'll leave you alone." She lifted Alice in a bridal hold and calmly floated her off of the ground. "See you around."

"Bye, Emma!" Alice giggled and kissed Deb's cheek as they flew into the air. 

So that was a real thing that had just happened. This was what her life was now. She sighed and started walking to her apartment, trying to find a way to think of the situation as normal. She was about halfway there when she was stopped by an aggressively enthusiastic Greenpeace activist with a tiny blue flower tucked behind her ear. "Hello, ma'am! Would you like to donate to Greenpeace? It's for the planet," she smiled, thrusting a clipboard into Emma's face. 

"Uh, no thanks, not today." Emma pushed the clipboard back to the woman and turned to keep walking. 

"Are you sure?" She asked sweetly.

"Yeah, sorry." Emma was forced to let go of her bags as the activist coiled thick vines that she was sure hadn't been there before around her and dragged her back. 

"Absolutely positive?" The look in her eyes was utterly psychopathic. God, was everybody in the town this insane?

"Um, fine, I'll donate," she stammered as the Greenpeace Girl lifted her off the ground and dug sharp thorns into her skin. 

"Glad to hear it," she chirped as she gently set Emma back on the ground and moved the vines to grab her bags and set them at her side. The vines shrank back into harmless blades of grass as the activist handed her the clipboard, the murderous look in her eye exchanged for a sunshiny smile. 

She quickly scribbled something down before the woman could threaten her again and gave her the clipboard back. "There. Are you happy?"

"The planet thanks you."

"You're welcome, planet," Emma rolled her eyes, picking her bags back up and briskly finishing the walk to her apartment before anyone else could stop her. She opened the door, dropped her bags to the ground, and sank into the bed with a deep sigh. This was going to take some getting used to.


	2. Interview

The woman working the counter smiled at Emma as she walked into Beanie's. "Hey there. What can I get for you today?"

"Uh, hello. I'm Emma. I'm here for the interview." 

"Oh, right. Nice to meet you, Emma. I'll let Zoey work the counter and then we'll get started, alright?" 

"Sounds great." 

She left for a second and returned with an annoyed college-aged girl and waved Emma behind the counter and into the back room. She sat down across from Emma at a small table and smiled again. "For starters, I'm Nora Thompson, the owner of Beanie's, and my superpower is possession. That means I can take control of your body at will." 

"What?!"

"Don't worry, that doesn't mean I'm going to." She playfully raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Not unless you give me a good reason. Out there on the counter is Zoey Campbell. She'd be your manager if you got the job." 

"You want to see what my power is?" Zoey asked from the doorway. 

"You know the rules, not inside," Nora sighed. "You can tell her, though." 

"I can control the weather," she smiled, holding out a hand to demonstrate.

"What did I just say?" 

"I won't do anything, Nora. Just watch, new girl." She created a miniature tornado on top of her hand. 

"Alright, Zo, she gets it. We have an interview, and you have customers." Zoey dropped her hand and glared at Nora. The room was suddenly ice cold, frost forming at the corners and on the table in front of her. "Z-Z-Z-Zoey!" Nora shivered, getting up to stop her. The frost steamed when Zoey crossed her arms and the cold turned to blistering heat. "You're acting like a child!" Nora sounded like she was on the verge of a heat stroke. "Please just listen to me." The heat dropped and the room darkened as Zoey swirled storm clouds in the air above them. "Are you testing me?" It started pouring rain. "Don't make me do it, Zoey." Nora quickly dodged out of the way of a lightning bolt. "Alright, then. You leave me with no choice." Nora put her hands on her hips and Zoey's eyes turned orange. Her arms uncrossed, the storm faded into nothing, and the rainwater evaporated away. Nora forced Zoey back to the counter and locked the door. The second Nora had dropped her control on her, she immediately struck the lock with lightning. "Zoey," she warned through the door. 

"Nora," she mocked, creating a blizzard inside the room. 

"You know that I really don't like doing this."

"You know that I really don't car- whatever you say, Nora," she droned, interrupting herself as the blizzard dissolved. 

"Now, please, get back to work, and don't make me do it again." Nora sat down again and sighed. "I'm very sorry, Emma. There's nothing I hate more than having to use my powers, especially on my friends. And that isn't an everyday thing, by the way. She's just a little... temperamental sometimes. But, uh, let's talk about you. It is your interview, after all." 

"Right." Emma was still shaken from whatever that had been, but she nodded and tried to continue with the interview, anyway. "I'm Emma Perkins." Nora was silent for a second, waiting for Emma to tell her her power. "Alright, here's my superpower. I can get a perfect, even wing on both eyes, first try." 

"That's not a superpower, that's witchcraft," Nora chuckled. "I'll take that to mean you don't have anything?" 

She shook her head. "Nothing." 

"Well, would you like a power?" She offered, standing up again."Zoey and I can take you to the Starlight, if you're interested."

"Um, does it hurt to get superpowers?" 

"No, not if you do it by breathing in the spores." Did that imply that there was a painful alternative? "So, do you want a power?" 

"I guess so," she mumbled. 

"Well, then, the rest of this interview can wait," Zoey called through the door. 

"Easy, tiger," Nora called back. "She's excitable."

"Clearly," Emma stuttered, watching as a soft rainbow appeared in the air above them. 

"We'll get back to the interview after this," Nora smiled. "Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nora says "you know the rules, not inside" and then Zoey never follows those rules, ever


	3. The Starlight Theater

Nora flipped the sign to "Sorry, we're closed" and locked the door behind them while Zoey got her first real look at Emma. "Wow, perfect hair. Melissa must be checking you out already."

"I'm not sure Doug would like that very much," Nora said, catching up to them as they started the walk to the theater.

"I'm not sure you would like that very much," Zoey teased, turning back to Emma.

"No, we're just friends, that's all. She's already got a partner, Zoey."

"And you wish it was you."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't," Nora insisted like a child.

"Yes, you do," Zoey sang just as immaturely.

"Uh, who's Melissa?" Emma interjected before their pointless quarrel could turn into an irreversibly damaging fight. Neither of them quite seemed to be the most level-headed people she had ever met. Add superpowers into the mix, and you've got a recipe for disaster on your hands. It was really a wonder Beanie's was still standing. 

"Melissa is the secretary at CCRP, an office building a block from Beanie's. Her power is chaetokinesis. That's hair manipulation."

"Nora's totally head-over-heels," Zoey added with a smirk.

"Well, Zo, so is her partner."

"Aha! She admits it! She admitted it, and you all heard it," she announced, despite the fact that she had an audience of one.

"Her partner, Doug, also known as Officer Padeska, is a police officer at HFPD, where Zoey's boyfriend Sam works," Nora continued with a small grimace when she mentioned Sam before she rolled her eyes and ignored Zoey. 

"Sam's got replication, the ability to create copies of himself, and Doug has ferrokinesis, the manipulation of metals and jewels."

"Well, they certainly know how to manipulate a jewel into a relationship with them," Nora muttered. 

"Totally healthy, Nora. Very well-adjusted." 

"Says the girl who just tried to electrocute me for asking her to do her job."

"Well, can't you just possess one of them and-"

"No, Zoey, we've been over this, that's immoral and psychopathic," Nora sighed.

"Didn't stop you with me."

"You were threatening my life, it's different. And for the last time, Mel's just my friend. Here it is."

They stopped briefly in front of what Emma could just barely tell was the Starlight Theater. Zoey dragged her in before she could really get a good look at it, but it was even less recognizable on the inside. That was mostly due to the destruction the meteor had caused. They had fixed the outside of the theater, but the house and stage remained demolished. "You really couldn't have cleaned this place up even a little over the last four years?"

"Is nothing sacred? This meteor gave us fucking superpowers, Emma. We're keeping it around." 

"Fair enough." 

She was about to say something else when another person stepped out from behind the meteor, a colonel with curly brown hair. She nodded to Nora and Zoey and asked, "who is this? I don't recognize your friend."

"Oh, hey, Colonel. This is Emma Perkins, she's new in town. Speaking of which, what are you doing here?" 

"I'm not exactly new to Hatchetfield, Thompson," the colonel replied. Nora nodded slowly, like she wasn't quite sure if she had already known that or not.

"Hey, me neither," Emma shrugged.

"Well, I've been told that I'm here on business. Check on the meteor, make sure the spores are properly contained so we don't have another... episode on our hands, et cetera, et cetera. But I've also received special orders from the general to pay my sister and her husband a visit," she continued with a small smile. "But that's enough about my personal life. It's nice to meet you, Perkins. I'm Colonel Schaeffer with PEIP, and, before you ask, yes, I do have a superpower: terrakinesis."

"Um, okay," she said, choosing not to mention that she didn't know what terrakinesis was. "It's nice to meet you, too, Colonel." 

"I'd guess you're here for a power?" 

"Yes."

"Then, change of plans, I'll leave you three alone and come back to this situation later," Colonel Schaeffer nodded again as a goodbye and left. 

"Well, that was abrupt. Quick explanation, Emma: when the meteor hit, members of a government organization called PEIP were sent in, and a few of them got powers from spore exposure, including her."

"Can I ask what she meant by 'episode?'" That was one of many, many questions she had, but she figured she should keep most of them to herself.

"We, um, we don't really like to talk about that." 

"Oh, uh, sorry." So she should have kept that one to herself, too.

"Any powers yet?" Zoey asked quickly, changing the subject. 

"Um, how will I know?" 

"You'll know," Nora said with a disconcerted twinge to her voice. 

"And you're sure this won't be painful?" 

"Not if it's by breathing them in," she repeated, almost fearfully.

Suddenly, Emma could barely breathe. She tried to say something, but was interrupted by a coughing fit. She felt something clinging to her mouth and throat, quickly but painlessly moving throughout her body. It was briefly replaced by a numbing warmth, then it stopped. 

Nora and Zoey blinked and made indirect eye contact with Emma, like they were looking through a prism to see her. "So I guess that's your power, Em!" 

"What? What's my power?" She looked around herself and everything seemed normal. 

"Oh, you can't see it, can you?" Zoey muttered, pulling out her phone. She held it up to Emma so she could see her reflection in the camera. Or, rather, not her reflection. Nothing reflected back except the curtain behind her. Emma blinked and she could see herself again. "Invisibility."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Calm down there, Nora


	4. First day on the job

When they got back to Beanie's, the rest of interview surprisingly went as smoothly as silk. Soon after, Emma caught word from Nora that she had gotten the job. She was glad to have a source of income, but she could tell already that her coworkers' electric personalities were going to make this job pretty interesting. As if it wouldn't have been chaotic, anyway. Give a capricious primadonna meteorokinesis and an authoritative boss the power to control other people's bodies (though ethicality kept her from using it often), then put them in the same place for multiple shifts a day, every day, and then slap on the added bonus of trying to figure out how to control your own invisibility, and you've got yourself a bumpy ride, to say the least. The icing on the cake? She was also starting classes at the local community college soon. She was looking forward to figuring out how to juggle all that when that time came around. 

She walked behind the counter on her first day in the uniform Nora had given her and took a deep breath, bracing herself for whatever was going to happen that day. About fifteen minutes after Zoey had officially opened up shop, Alice and Deb walked in, the two teenage girls that had first welcomed her back into Hatchetfield. Alice grinned ear-to-ear as she recognized her. "Hey, Emma! It's good to see you again. I see you're fitting right back into the island, I could tell you would."

"More than you would think." She chuckled at the delighted looks on their faces when she turned herself invisible, hiding the intense effort it took. She still had practically no control over the powers. She had asked Nora and Zoey earlier that morning how soon they had gotten the hang of their superpowers, to which they had responded with unintelligible mumbling and nervous nail biting. The same uncomfortable vagueness as always.

"Emma! You got powers!" Alice cheered, like they had been lifelong friends instead of extremely loose acquaintances. 

"So I've heard," she joked, reappearing with a smirk. "What can I get for you two today?" 

"Just a medium hot chocolate for her, please," Deb smiled, resting an arm around her girlfriend's shoulders. "I'm not that thirsty." 

"Gotcha." Emma turned to start making her drink and almost immediately heard thunder coming from the back room. So that didn't take very long. "Um, just a second." She opened the door to see Zoey crying, her phone seconds from slipping out of her fingers. Emma quickly caught it and tried her hardest to keep it dry as she made an attempt to comfort her manager. "Are you okay, Zoey? What's wrong?"

Zoey looked up, apparently not having noticed that Emma had been there. She tried to pull herself together and she mumbled, "nothing." 

"Are you sure?" Emma asked as the rain turned to hail. 

"I'm fine, Emma, just leave me alone." 

"Zoey, is this about...?" Nora asked from the doorway, trailing off and covering it with a fake cough. Zoey nodded slowly, turning the hail back to rain. "Let me handle this. Emma, if you could please go back to serving Alice and Deb, that would be great."

"But-"

"Don't worry about her, I know what I'm doing," Nora interrupted, walking over to console her. 

Emma nodded and walked back out to the counter, not wanting to test her new boss' possession. Alice giggled slightly as she saw how soaked Emma was and raised a hand to evaporate the remains of Zoey's downpour. God, even a couple of teenagers had better control than she did. To be fair, though, they had four years of experience and she didn't. She'd get it at some point. She turned back to finish with Alice's hot chocolate and handed it to her. Alice gave her a cheerful smile and a generous tip in return, calling back a "thanks" as she left.

It was still early, and they had been the only customers so far, so she went back to help Nora comfort Zoey. She walked in on Nora murmuring, "it's alright, it's all over. You're safe, Zoey. Everything is okay." 

"But what if everything isn't okay?" Zoey sobbed into her boss' shoulder, staining her sleeve with her mascara. "What if it's not over?" 

"It's been four years, Zo. I promise you, we're okay," she reassured her, trying to keep her fear and uncertainty from creeping into her voice. "It's never going to happen again." Emma wondered how they hadn't noticed her until she realized that she had unintentionally made herself invisible and her guilt made her reappear. Nora quickly grabbed Zoey's hand before she could send Emma into a tornado and asked, though it was phrased more as a demand, "were you eavesdropping on our conversation?" 

"Not inten-"

"Is this what we should expect from you, Emma?" Zoey squeaked, trying and failing to sound assertive.

"No, no, I promise I didn't mean anything." 

"Consider this a warning," Nora crossed her arms. "I know what I'm doing when it comes to this, and I know what's best for Zoey when-"

"Please don't say it," Zoey whimpered, interrupting her.

"I'm sorry, Zo, I get it. But please, Emma, let me handle this, alright?" The anger in Nora's voice had been exchanged for the gentle murmur she had been using with Zoey earlier, with that same fearful twinge Emma heard from her every time this unclear subject came up. She knew it wasn't likely that either of them were going to want to talk about whatever had happened, but she doubted that anyone else on the island would, either. She might find out someday, but it almost certainly wouldn't be from Nora or Zoey. 

There was a jingle at the door. Another customer. Emma understandingly rushed out to make their drink, leaving Nora to help Zoey recollect herself. She smiled to herself as she heard the storm clear up a few minutes later. Maybe Zoey could be a little frustrating sometimes, but it was hard to watch her so upset, even if she barely knew her. She knew it was perfectly reasonable that Zoey didn't trust or feel comfortable around her, what with her being as alien to the situation as she was, but it could be just as reasonable that she would. Eventually.


	5. Storm in a teacup

The next two days thankfully went by without any more indoor thunderstorms or emotional breakdowns. Emma was slowly but surely gaining control of her powers, once even having been able to turn Nora invisible with her, but she was mostly just having troubles with them. She would still disappear from sight at random without realizing, very, very often. This would get mixed reactions from the customers, some of whom would freak out and the others would immediately understand what had happened. The next group of patrons most likely would have had both types of response, but Emma never found out, because one of them already knew she had invisibility. 

Three people walked in- a tall man in a business suit, a sleaze with a cheesy moustache, and a slightly younger woman with a blazer and glasses. Emma smiled, still visible, as they walked up. "Hey, welcome to Beanie's, what can I get for you today?"

"Hello!" The woman chirped with a cheerful smile. "I'm going to guess that you're the new barista, Emma?" She nodded. "Nora's mentioned you a few times. Invisibility, right?" 

"Bingo, you?" 

"Chaetokinesis. Oh, I guess I should introduce myself, shouldn't I? I'm Melissa, it's nice to meet you." So here she was, the famous Melissa. 

"And I'm Paul, Paul Matthews," the man in the suit said, a little flustered. 

"Ted," the sleaze added with a smirk. "I've got teleportation." 

"Guess what my power is," Paul grinned, slightly recollected.

"Here's a hint: it's really more like 'guess what his power isn't.'" 

"Well, I'm still pretty new to the 'superpowers are real and everyone in this town, including me, has them' situation, so I'm lost," Emma replied, leaning on the counter. "Shoot."

"It's called amber. When I touch anyone with superpowers, I get that power until I touch someone else and get theirs." 

"Dude!" Emma chuckled, putting a hand on her hip. "That's sick as hell."

"Getting it wasn't exactly pleasant," he shrugged casually but uncomfortably. Just like everyone in this town. 

"Fun. But, uh, I guess you're here for drinks. What can I get for you all?"

"Well, I'm actually here to hit on that hot barista, but I wouldn't mind a chai iced tea," Ted clicked his tongue, drumming his fingers on the counter. 

"Classy," Paul rolled his eyes. "Just a black coffee for me."

"And I'll take a chamomile, please," Melissa finished with a smile, trying to ignore Ted. "Oh, and a caramel frappe for Bill."

"Coming right up," she nodded, turning to start on their drinks. "And if by 'that hot barista,' you meant Zoey, she's got a boyfriend, and Nora's into women." She wasn't only into women, but he didn't need to know that detail. Not that either of them would want a guy like him, anyway. She didn't know very much about him yet, but she could tell already that he was an asshole. "Oh, and if you meant me, hell no." 

"Yeah, not you," he scoffed, apparently not fazed by the news.

"So, um, Emma, what brought you to Hatchetfield, if I might ask?" Melissa tittered, trying to turn the conversation to something besides her coworker's sleaziness as Emma handed Paul his coffee. 

Before she could respond, there was a scream from the back room. Melissa and Paul jumped slightly, Ted groaned. Zoey ran out and gripped onto Emma's arms with ice-cold hands. "Emma, Emma, Emma! What color are my eyes? What color are they?" She squeaked, frantically shaking her back and forth. 

"Um, green?" 

"Is that a question?" 

"Well, I can't tell unless you stop," she reasoned, feeling frost start to crystallize on her skin around Zoey's hands. 

Zoey quickly pulled away and pushed her hair out of her eyes, leaving tiny snowflakes behind. "What color? Please tell me what color they are!"

"They're green, like I said." 

"Are you sure?" She turned to the others. "Are they green?" 

"Yes, Zoey, they're green," Melissa nodded reassuringly. 

"I swear they were blue just a second ago! My eyes were blue, Melissa! It's happening again!" Clouds formed above them and the room chilled just a little bit more with every exasperated breath as she hyperventilated. 

"No, it isn't," Paul sighed. "You're okay, they're green. It's not going to happen again."

"Yeah, don't throw another Tempest tantrum," Ted snickered. Zoey shrieked and ducked under the counter. A few snowflakes fell before a thin layer of ice coated the clouds.

"Oh my God, Ted! What the hell is wrong with you?" Paul asked as Melissa gently coaxed Zoey back to her feet. "I'm sorry, he can be a real asshole sometimes." 

"He shouldn't have said that, but he's really sorry, aren't you, Ted?" Melissa prompted, glaring slightly before turning back to comfort Zoey, who was still trembling in fear. 

"Yeah, sure, whatever," he rolled his eyes, shivering slightly himself from the cold. 

"Can you please just have a heart for, like, three seconds, Ted?" 

"Okay, can any of you tell me what the fuck is going on?" Emma interjected, trying to help Melissa calm Zoey.

"It's a long and complicated story that I'm sure Zoey never wants to hear again, but to put it simply, the spores that are in the theater now aren't exactly the same as the ones that first came from the meteor," Melissa explained, walking on eggshells not to scare Zoey again. The room warmed slightly as she started to calm down. "Those just give people powers, like they did for you or me. But everyone else in Hatchetfield had, um, a different reaction when they first got their powers." 

"The meteor doesn't make superheroes, it makes supervillains," Ted continued, throwing the cautiousness towards Zoey's sensitivities right out the window. It got colder as she shrank back in fear. "They fixed it, but everyone with superpowers besides you, Mel, Colonel Schaeffer, and Lieutenant Colonels Picaretta and Orwell used to have something of an evil alter ego. They nicknamed themselves. Zoey's chose the name 'Tem-'"

"Don't say it again, Ted," Paul interrupted with a sigh. "Sorry again about him." 

"Did evil Zoey have blue eyes? Is that why she was freaking out?" Emma asked Melissa under her breath. 

She nodded slightly before turning back to her coworkers. "Um, Ted, how about you teleport back to work and we'll bring you your drink when we get there? I think you might kill poor Zoey if you stay any longer." Ted rolled his eyes and dissapeared. "You're okay. It's all fine, Zoey. She's gone and she's never coming back. Your eyes aren't blue. You're alright. Everything is okay." 

The temperature slowly rose back to a comfortable level as Zoey took a deep breath. "I'm okay, it's all okay." 

"That's exactly right," Melissa smiled. "Are you feeling better now?" 

"I think so." 

"Good. Nora will understand if you need to extend your break. She knows this isn't easy for you."

"Unlike some people," Paul muttered. 

"I'm going to go sit down now," Zoey mumbled, turning to go back to the back room. 

"That's probably for the best." 

"Well, I guess I got an iced coffee today," Paul chuckled, tapping the side of his frozen drink. 

"Sorry, I can make you another," Emma offered, starting on Melissa's chamomile. 

"Nah, it's fine. Thanks, though." He turned to Melissa. "Should we really buy Ted a drink after that?"

"Well, just because he was being awful doesn't mean we have to return the favor." 

"Fair." 

She handed Melissa her chamomile and made the caramel frappe and iced chai. Melissa smiled and took the extra drinks with locks of her hair. Emma sighed, knowing she'd never really get used to how casually Hatchetfield citizens used their powers. She, like Alice, was a good tipper. "Sorry for the trouble, Emma. I hope the next time we see each other won't involve my coworker scaring the life out of yours." 

"Right back at ya," Emma chuckled. "See you guys around."

"Bye," Paul called back to her as they left. 


	6. Who am I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curveball, here comes an introduction to the plot, ft. existentialism with Zoey

Paul and Melissa were regular customers. Melissa had told her when Paul wasn't in earshot that he insisted on coming with her for every single CCRP coffee run now, and not to help her carry drinks. Her hair served that purpose well enough. Emma could tell by the look in his eyes every time he saw her what the real reason was. Cute. Luckily, Ted didn't tag along very often, and when he did, Zoey stayed in the back room. A couple more of their coworkers, Charlotte with shapeshifting and Bill with healing powers, would sometimes join them, both soft-spoken sweethearts with failing relationships and a taste for caramel frappes. Emma had picked up that Bill was Alice's father and that Charlotte was married to someone who sounded pretty similar to Zoey's boyfriend, Sam. If memory served, he could create copies of himself, which in her eyes didn't exactly help his case. But poor Charlotte seemed like even the tiniest of obstacles would push her over the edge, and Zoey was just as emotionally volatile as ever, so she figured it probably wasn't a good idea to bring it up to either of them. If she ever met Sam, though, she was going to ask him about it.

Melissa, Paul and Bill walked in on a particularly slow day for business. They got their usual orders, as well as the extra frappe and chai for Charlotte and Ted, respectively. Emma accidentally scalded her finger while making Paul's coffee, which Bill immediately healed without missing a beat of his small talk. As she made his frappe, Zoey stepped out of the back room to start her shift. Emma breathed a sigh of relief. This was going to be her last order, then she could finally go on break. But that ease quickly turned to alarm when she caught sight of her manager's eyes. Just as Zoey had feared, her eyes were an unmistakably sinister blue. She froze and tried not to let her reaction show, knowing that it would terrify her to hear that she hadn't just imagined it the other day and that her eyes had, in fact, changed to her counterpart's. Paul, Melissa and Bill noticed, too, and reacted similarly. She looked up from her phone to see them all staring at her and nervously took a step back. "What?"

"Um, nothing," Bill said, quickly looking away. 

She wasn't convinced. "What's wrong?"

"It's just, um, that your eyes-"

Zoey gasped, interrupting him. "Please tell me they're not...." She turned her attention back to her phone and tensely got a look at her reflection. She dropped her phone in shock and horror, which Emma quickly caught again and set on the counter. "My eyes are blue! They're blue! It's happening again! She's coming back! Unless she never left...? Am I really Zoey, or has Zoey been gone since she took over? If I'm not Zoey, who am I? Am I her? Has there ever been a difference? Am I good or evil? Was I ever good? Who am I? Who am I?!" 

"You're not her, Zoey, and you're not evil," Bill assured her, cutting off her existential speech. "She's gone for good, I promise." 

"Well, clearly not!" She gasped again, too scared even to subconsciously create a storm with her powers. "What if this starts happening to everyone? Have either of you seen anything like this recently?" She asked Paul and Bill, clinging uneasily to Emma, which was much more awkward than it should have been, considering their height difference. 

"Well, now that you mention it, it wasn't me, but my daughter was acting a little... strange this morning," Bill recalled unsurely.

"And Mr. Davidson mentioned something weird about Carol's powers earlier, didn't he?" Paul mumbled, lost in thought. 

"Please, guys," Melissa interjected. "You're not exactly helping." 

"Well, she did ask." 

"What if you guys turn evil, too?" Zoey squeaked, frantically looking back and forth between Melissa and Emma. 

"We won't, and you won't, either," Melissa reassured, gently taking her hands. "It's all okay." 

"You all keep saying that with no clue if it's true or not," Zoey mewled as mascara started running down her face. Emma made the mental note to introduce her to the concept of waterproof mascara sometime, it seemed like it'd be a real game-changer for her. 

"Shh, please don't cry. I promise you, you're safe." 

"But I'm not!" 

Melissa nervously bit her lip and took a deep breath, using a lock of her hair to tweak her glasses. "Listen to me-"

"No, you listen to me!" 

"Zoey." Melissa's gentle voice turned firm for a second. "Calm down, please. I need you to pay attention to my words, alright? You are okay. I know you've heard it a million times, but we're trying to help you. She is gone. She doesn't exist anymore. The color of your eyes is probably just a little... aftershock, I guess is a word for it. It doesn't mean a thing." 

"But why would it only start now? Why four years late?" Everyone knew what the question she stopped herself from asking was. Was it because of Emma? 

"I don't know," Melissa admitted quietly. "But what I do know is that you have absolutely nothing to worry about." 

Before she could respond, the door violently swung open and a blurred figure darted in. They slowed right before they would have hit the counter and said something unintelligibly fast to Emma, who blinked and stepped back. They bounced energetically on their toes and slowed their speech just enough to be understood to say, "Oh, I'm sorry about that. I talk very, very fast, especially when I'm worried or nervous, which I definitely am. Well, actually, I do everything very, very fast. Superspeed, y'know? When you really get going and pick up speed, sometimes it just gets hard to stop, and..." Their words sped up again and Emma couldn't understand them anymore. "Oops! Sorry again. I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Orwell with PEIP- that's Paranormal Extraterrestrial Intergalactic Phenomena. You probably haven't heard of us. Not a peep, as General MacNamara would say. Well, that's actually what I'm here for. To summarize, have you seen the colonel? By that I mean Colonel Schaeffer, also with PEIP. But who else would I have meant? She's the only colonel who'd be in Hatchetfield! I'm talking too much, aren't I? Um, I'll stop after this: one, what's your name? Two, where's Colonel Schaeffer?" 

Everyone but Melissa, who seemed very unfazed, was a little stunned. "Uh, wow, that was a lot. But I'm Emma Perkins, my superpower is invisibility, and no, I haven't seen the colonel in a few days." 

"Oh, well, then, Melissa, have you?" Their words slurred together again as they gave another rapidfire speech, which she somehow understood perfectly. 

"Not today, no," she replied calmly. She looked at the others' confused expressions and added, "you get used to it after a few days. They had always been a little restless when we interacted. Getting superspeed really didn't do that any favors, and now they talk like this all the time. It's not usually as bad when they're calmer." 

"The folks at PEIP have picked up fast-talk since I started accidentally using it every single time I spoke," Orwell shrugged. "But, again, that's really what I'm here for. Tell me if you see the colonel. Good to see you, Melissa, and nice to meet you, Emma. Goodbye!" They zipped out the door again before any of the group could stop them. 

"When did you two get so familiar, Melissa?" 

"They and Lieutenant Colonel Picaretta were also working with Colonel Schaeffer– and me, kind of– to fix the issue four years ago," she replied simply. "But as nice as they are, it's not good that they're in Hatchetfield, especially not if they need to see the colonel that badly," she added, lowering her voice so Zoey couldn't hear her. "After what we just saw with Zoey, I fear for the worst." 


	7. Don't say I didn't warn you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chaos. Just utter chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw death

"I think I need to talk to Nora," Zoey mumbled, eyes still blue. 

"Okay. I can cover your shift, if you need me to," Emma offered, trying to keep her attention on Zoey and the CCRP crowd's drinks instead of Melissa's crypticism. "There haven't been too many customers today, I can keep working."

"Thanks, Em, that'd be great. I'll take over as soon as I can."

"Take as long of a break as you need, I'm sure this shit is pretty hard to deal with." 

"See you in a minute," she replied gratefully, turning to go into the back room again. Emma finished with Charlotte's macchiato and handed it to Melissa, who took it with her hair as she usually did. She started on Ted's chai, trying to figure out what had changed Zoey's eye color. Before she could take any guesses, the door flew open again. 

Deb and Alice rushed in, gasping for breath. Alice ran to Bill and started crying. "Dad, there's something wrong with Deb's friends, and I know you don't like her very much, but-"

"What do you mean, 'something wrong?'" Paul interrupted tensely. 

His question was answered by two more teenage girls following them in, one in a hoodie, skirt, and denim vest forming fireballs with simple hand movements and the other, wearing a yellow pinafore over a black blouse, bending gravity with similar gestures. They had the same evil grin on their faces, causing Alice to whimper again and shrink back further into her father's arms. Zoey had, unfortunately, been exactly right. The first girl shot flames at Bill and Alice, which were stopped by some quick thinking from Paul, who got hydrokinesis from Alice and extinguished the fire just before it could hit them. Melissa hesitantly started fighting them with her hair, taking care not to cause permanent damage. The second girl gyrokinetically dragged Alice toward her and away from Bill, then anchored her to the ground. Alice formed a defensive wall of water between the two groups, letting Melissa stop attacking the girls. She froze the wall and it was immediately melted by the first girl, whose flames swallowed Alice in the process. 

"Alice!" Bill cried as both he and Paul tried to save her, Paul by smothering the flames with water and Bill by healing her burns. "Please be okay, please, God, let her be okay!" Paul had done all he could really do to help him, so he switched his power to Melissa's chaetokinesis to help her fight them off and they left. They didn't need to be there anymore, their work had been done. Bill tried to divide his attention between making sure the two of them had stayed unharmed and saving his possibly-dead daughter. He whimpered when the last of the flames finally finished steaming away to reveal Alice laying limp on the ground. Her hair and clothes were a little singed, but her body was perfectly healed and unharmed, thanks to him. 

As soon as the fire had been put out, Deb ran to her girlfriend and held her close, sobbing too hard to say anything. Bill held his breath when Alice's eyes fluttered open and she scowled. "Get your hands off me."

"What?" Deb squeaked, pulling away slightly. "Ally, baby-"

"Don't call me that. And I'm going to tell you one more time, get the fuck off of me." Emma could almost see Bill's heart break in front of her. 

"Well, I'm sorry, I thought you liked it when I called you Ally," Deb mumbled, trying to help her up. 

"Don't say I didn't warn you," she growled, blasting Deb into the wall with her powers. 

"Ow!" She cried, wincing in pain. Bill healed her injuries as quickly as he could. "Alice, babe, wh-"

"If you're going to insist on talking to me, use my second name," evil Alice interrupted, crossing her arms and glaring at her counterpart's girlfriend. "And slow down there with the pet names. I don't like you, not right now. Maybe when you've come to your senses, then we'll talk it over." 

"Mr. Preston? What's wrong with her?" Deb asked Bill nervously as he helped her to her feet. 

"You were both only thirteen when this all happened... you never met Alice's counterpart, did you, Deb?" He asked, trying not to cry. 

"What? Is that why Sof and Bea..." She cut herself off with a yelp. "Alice!" 

"I told you to stop calling me that!" 

"Her name was Mariana, like the trench," Melissa whispered, restraining Alice with her hair. "It's probably in your best interest to use that, instead." 

"I don't think I want to use her real name for this version of her, anyw-"

She was interrupted by Alice– who couldn't currently generate more water, but could still manipulate the remains of the melted ice wall– forcing Melissa to drop her control on her hair and grabbing Deb. Before anyone could stop her, she quickly enclosed the two of them in a water bubble, which she then coated in a layer of ice. She could breathe underwater. Deb couldn't. The others made their best efforts to get her out, but the ice was too thick to break through in time. If Paul had kept his imitation of Alice's powers, he would have been able to, but he had made the grave mistake of switching to Melissa's earlier. 

Emma ran to the back room to get the other baristas, knowing that Nora could possess Alice and make her let Deb go or that Zoey could evaporate the water and get her out, but she quickly regretted that decision. When she walked in, she discovered that the three younger girls hadn't been the only ones who had been taken over by their alter egos again. Zoey started forming a tornado as Nora shot Emma a venomous grin, seconds from possessing her. She darted out of the room before her boss could turn her eyes the light orange she had seen in Zoey's during the interview and ran around the counter. "Guys, Nora and Zoey are gone, too," she hissed, gripping onto Melissa's arms. "We need to get out!"

Bill whimpered again when the bubbles they could only barely see through the white ice dwindled into nothing. The ice melted and Alice dried herself and a now-waking Deb off. The tornado passed through the door and built into a violent cyclone, destroying parts of Beanie's. Deb shot the others a quick, bitchy wave before she wrapped her arms around Alice's waist and flew off.

"Guys, come with me!" Melissa hissed, running to the door. Bill, Paul and Emma followed her out before Nora and Zoey could stop them. She led them to a quiet alleyway that was inexplicably lined with tons of shrubs and put a finger over her lips to tell them to be quiet. "We need to find Schaeffer and Orwell as soon as we possibly can," she whispered, barely audible. 

As if on cue, Ted appeared, enjoying the opportunity to have his arms around Charlotte just a little bit too much. "Mr. Davidson-"

"Is evil again?" Paul guessed with a sigh. Charlotte nodded fearfully. 

"And Carol, too," Ted added. "She showed up a few minutes ago and the second she saw him, that was the end for both of them. Last we saw, they were all over each other, swapping spit."

"You don't have to say it like that, Ted," Charlotte peeped, not realizing that she was still clinging to him. 

"Alright, then, how's 'tongue wrestling'? 'Playing tonsil hockey'? 'Eating each other's faces'? 'Seconds from fucking'?"

"Ted!" Charlotte admonished, clearly flustered.

"Was anyone else...?" Bill trailed off, still shattered from his daughter's behavior in the coffeeshop. 

"No, no one else. Yet." 

"That might not last, knowing how powerful those two a- Oh! I almost forgot! Colonel Schaeffer was there, following Carol and looking for you, Melissa," Charlotte reported. 

"That information could have been useful a bit earlier," Paul muttered. "Ted?" 

Ted sighed before begrudgingly letting the others grab his arms and, after making sure nobody was going to be left behind, teleported the group back to CCRP. 


	8. It takes two to Van Gogh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mild implied sexual content

As soon as they had landed in what Emma assumed was the CCRP break room, they saw the colonel walking gingerly past the doorway, looking up in surprise when she heard them. "Melissa!"

"Hey, Colonel," she responded with a half-cheerful, half-worried smile. "Before we say anything else, you should probably know that Lieutenant Colonel Orwell is in town, and they've been asking where you are."

"Then we'll need to find them. But first, I imagine you've come across some-"

"Supervillains?" She guessed quickly, interrupting her. "Yes, yes we have. To be specific, we saw Bea, Sof, Alice, Deb, Zoey, and Nora."

"Well, they're not the only ones. I've also had run-ins with..." Schaeffer paused slightly, not remembering the names as well as Melissa did. "Chastity, Hawkes, Peterson, Celentino, Bristol, Wilkes, Officer Sawyer, Officer Mitchell, H-"

Charlotte yelped and buried her face in Ted's chest, starting to cry. "That's Sam, they've got my Sam again!" So that gave Emma an answer. She was, in fact, married to Zoey's boyfriend. Ted awkwardly held her with one arm, both trying to soothe her and making a failed attempt to hide his scowl at the mention of Sam. Bill walked over and did a much better job at comforting her, knowing exactly how she felt.

"Wait, both Sam and Rob?" Melissa squeaked, nervously cleaning her glasses on the hem of her blazer. "Doug didn't happen to be with them, did they?"

"No, not yet." Melissa breathed a sigh of relief. "But I didn't see Officer Padeska at all, good or evil. Not to scare you, Melissa, but they very well could be turned already."

"Well, I really hope not," she mumbled.

"Do you really just not care about any of the rest of us, Mel?" Ted sighed, arms still around Charlotte, supposedly to comfort her over the loss of his least favorite person in the world.

"Ted!" 

"That's not at all what she meant, and you know that."

"Guys, are we sure he's not with them?"

"No, no, no," Melissa said through forced laughter. "I'm sure he isn't. We would know, his personality would have changed completely."

"Yeah, that was... interesting, to say the least," Ted agreed, just as uncomfortable as she was. "I'm just naturally an asshole. But, uh, Colonel? Anyone else?"

"Affirmative. There was... what's her name, again? ...Hawthorne. And of course, I followed Carol here," she nodded down the hall toward Mr. Davidson's office. "She was desperate to see Ken, and then they both snapped."

"Oh, no," Melissa winced. "Those three can get really scary, when given enough power."

"Well, if we stop them before they get that strong, we won't have to worry," Bill reasoned, a hopeful twinkle in his eye when he realized Alice could still be saved. "Just do what you two and the lieutenant colonels did last time, and we're golden."

"He's right," Melissa smiled unsurely. "We've done it without powers, right? Now that we have them, it should be a piece of cake. And these guys are still with us this time, and Emma, too. She's got invisibility, that's a really good defense." Emma chose not to mention how little control over her powers she had, as not to worry Melissa when she was trying to encourage them.

"And if Orwell brought Picaretta, then this'll be over in an instant," Colonel Schaeffer nodded to reassure herself. "No time like the present. Ken and Carol are in his office."

"Then how haven't they heard us?"

"They're a little, ah, distracted right now."

"Don't say they've moved past sucking face," Ted snorted.

"Do you hear the words that come out of your mouth when you say them, Ted?"

Melissa motioned for them to follow her down the hallway to Mr. Davidson's office. "Be careful, guys. Like I said, things can get pretty ugly when these versions of these two aren't happy. Word to the wise, don't let Carol paint any portraits." They turned a corner and saw, through the open door of the office, a couple starting to strip each other on top of the desk. Colonel Schaeffer cleared her throat in discomfort as Melissa stammered, "Emma, they're, uh, they're not usually this, uh... this."

The couple looked up and who Emma assumed was Carol rolled her eyes and pushed herself off of her husband with a sigh. "Let's make this quick, baby."

"I heard that sigh, missy," he hooked the side of his finger under her chin to pull her closer.

She cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms, pushing herself away. "Did you just call me missy?"

"Yes."

"Don't you fuckin' call me missy, mister," she pulled him back by the collar, her usual giggle replaced by a rougher laugh as she watched his face flush blue.  
  
"What if I do call you missy?"

"Try it again and find out."

"What are you gonna do to me?"

"Oh, I don't know, sugar," she smirked, pinning him to the desk. "What am I gonna do to you?"

"Can you two save the fucking for later?"

"Ugh. Fine," he pulled her back for one more kiss before they both stood up off of the desk and smirked. Mr. Davidson nodded towards Emma and chuckled. "Ooh, fresh meat. Allow us to introduce ourselves before we tear you to shreds. You might as well know who you have to thank when you finally come to your senses."

"Mr. Ken Davidson and his wife, Carol," Melissa interrupted with a sigh. "But you already knew that. He has telekinesis and she has depictukinesis."

"Her real superpower is being this stunning," Mr. Davidson whistled, wrapping an arm around her waist. She swooned and leaned up to kiss him again.

"What part of this is threatening to anything but my gag reflex?" Emma sighed. "And what's depictukinesis?"

"Well, would you like a demonstration?"

"No, thank you! If you'd rather get the definition without the 'death and despair' bit, Emma, depictukinesis is the manipulation of the arts and the tools used to create them."

"It's a lot worse than it sounds, trust me," Melissa shuddered again.

"Aww, is Melissa scared of us?" Mr. Davidson sneered, using his powers to lift her off the ground. She shot her hair towards him, but he quickly took control of it and wound it tightly around her as Carol cut straight to using one of her best– or, rather, worst– tricks. She grinned as she made a simple hand gesture and a palette and paintbrush appeared in her hands, then an easel and canvas in front of her. Melissa's eyes widened and she yelped behind her hair, part of which had been bound around her mouth as a gag.

The others, just as panicked, rushed to stop Carol before she could start the painting. Mr. Davidson calmly forced them away in various painful-looking ways (each tailored specifically to their power set to ensure that they couldn't stop him or his wife), skillfully dividing his attention between six different people. But he didn't do anything to Emma.

Carol started painting something on the canvas and Melissa whimpered in fear, thrashing in a failed attempt to free herself. Emma realized that she had, once again, subconsciously made herself invisible and hoped she could keep it as she silently crept over to help the others. Carol finished the painting, having been able to do so in less than a minute, thanks to her powers. After the last brushstroke, Melissa disappeared from the air, and not because of either Emma or Ted. Carol smugly turned the canvas around to show the group an animated portrait of Melissa silently pounding her fists against an invisible wall inside the painting, pure panic on her face. She tried to use her powers, but couldn't. Carol had taken her chaetokinesis when she had trapped her in the painting. But she wasn't using Melissa's powers, just her own.

Emma had just finished secretly helping Colonel Schaeffer when Carol set the canvas aside and conjured another blank one, starting the next portrait. Mr. Davidson picked up the finished painting and slowly took a sharp letter opener out of his desk. Colonel Schaeffer, invisible via contact with Emma, stealthily snuck up behind Mr. Davidson and quickly took the canvas just before he could cut through the cloth and kill the secretary imprisoned inside it.

Carol finished the second painting and Charlotte vanished just as Melissa had as Mr. Davidson tried to figure out how it had jerked out of his hands. He figured it was Paul having borrowed his telekinesis and turned to take him out before Carol could, but instead found that he, as well as Colonel Schaeffer and Bill, had disappeared (though he didn't know where to or how), and Ted, the last one, was being somehow freed at that moment.

"What?!" He whirled around to see if his wife had made unbelievably quick work with the remaining four paintings, but she was still in the middle of the third of six. Because they had forgotten about the seventh person in the group, the one they hadn't known could turn invisible. He grabbed the letter opener again and held it to Charlotte's painting, only for Colonel Schaeffer to stop him again and start fighting him, her at a significant advantage from her momentary invisibility.

Paul subtlely grazed Carol's arm and took depictukinesis, pulling the same trick as she had. Bill disappeared, even from invisibility, into Carol's third canvas as Mr. Davidson was put in Paul's first. She looked up with a yelp at the sight of her husband trapped in a painting and dropped her paintbrush before taking one of her painted canvases in one hand and the letter opener in the other, holding it threateningly close to her victim's throat.

"I'll give him back to you as soon as you've let all three of them go," Paul bargained, twirling a small bubble of ink in the air just as threateningly. "And if not, then I'll ruin this painting and you'll never see him again. Is that what you want?"

"No!" She cried, quickly and carefully setting the letter opener back on the desk. "Don't you dare hurt him!"

"I won't if you let them out of the paintings."

She nodded desperately as she made a different gesture with her hand and, one by one, the canvases folded into nothing. They immediately reappeared, all three decorated with small, colorful blotches of paint here and there. "Now, let him go!" Paul followed suit and Mr. Davidson stumbled slightly as he found himself back in the real world. Carol ran to him and jumped into his arms, sobbing. "I was so scared, baby! I thought you were going to be taken away from me forever!"

"Oh, no, don't cry," he murmured, running his fingers through her hair. "It's all okay, my love. There's no need to worry. I'm here." She swooned and pulled him back onto his desk, avoiding the letter opener. He raised one hand and telekinetically forced the others out of his office before turning his attention back to his wife and closing the door behind them.

After Bill had made sure that everyone was unharmed, Melissa quickly motioned for the rest of the group to get out of CCRP. "So, that was unsuccessful. Oh, and Emma, if you thought depictukinesis wasn't a threatening power, we have just unwillingly demonstrated a skill called 'artistic life-force imprisonment.' Scary stuff."

"Absolutely terrifying," Charlotte squeaked in agreement, trying to get a spot of half-mixed blue and green paint out of a lock of her hair.

"But believe it or not, it gets much, much worse than that from both of them. Mr. Davidson, for example, can effortlessly tear the atoms in you apart with his mind when provoked."

"What?!"

"Yep," Ted nodded, clicking his tongue. "Most superpowers are really fucked up, when you think about them for too long."

"Just be glad nobody has mnemokinesis. That's a power that would theoretically allow its user to create, destroy, and change anyone's memories, among other memory-related skills under the same umbrella."

"What kind of sick, twisted mind would come up with that?"

"We're going to have to rematch those two later," Colonel Schaeffer reminded Melissa under her breath, changing the subject. "And we might not be as lucky for round two. Matthews might be turned by then."

"What?" Melissa mumbled.

"Any of them could switch sides at any moment," the colonel said carefully.

Melissa crossed her arms. "They're not animals, Colonel. I'm not just going to abandon my friends."

"I'm not saying that we should abandon them, just that we stay cautious."

"They have valuable powers that can help us while they're still themselves, which they are right now. And Emma's staying, no matter what, because there's absolutely no reason to abandon her."

"I agree wholeheartedly about Perkins. And again, Melissa, I'm not saying that we abandon them. Just don't give any of them a knife and turn around."

"Hey, um, Colonel, I'm kind of a special case, you might remember," Paul spoke up unsurely. "Maybe mine won't come back."

"We can have our hopes," Melissa mumbled. They all looked up at the sudden motion of a blur whizzing past the building. "And there's Orwell."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is still the dumbest, cheesiest shit ever and I am loving every goddamn second of it


	9. Famous last words, asshole

Melissa calmly stepped forward to see where the lieutenant colonel had gone, raising her hand like she was hailing a taxi. Orwell apparently saw it and turned to speed toward them. As they slowed, they started yet another frantic, rapidfire speech. Melissa gave Colonel Schaeffer a worried glance before the lieutenant colonel finished and took a deep breath, steadying themself on Melissa's arm. 

"Basic translation: Lieutenant Colonel Picaretta is still at HQ, and she needs to stay there. The former supervillains at PEIP, most notably General MacNamara, are turning again, too."

"Picaretta can keep them under control, but she can't leave them, or they'll pull another stunt and start turning other people. We have to stay here and fix Hatchetfield again. Don't worry about her, though. She has tychokinesis, there's no way she'll lose a fight."

"Famous last words, asshole," Ted muttered.

"What's tychokinesis?" Emma sighed, getting tired of asking this same question every three minutes. 

"Probability manipulation." Then yeah, she was obviously going to win against pretty much anyone. 

"Well, can't she just-" 

"Use it on us?" Orwell interrupted quickly, having calmed themself enough to slow their speech but still just barely intelligible. "Negative. We're too far away, out of range. Good thinking, though. How are the spores in the theater holding up, Colonel?"

"Perfect, last I checked."

"That's good to hear, they're kind of the key to our success." 

"Or maybe they're the key to the villains' success," Charlotte peeped, still trying to clean the paint off of herself.

"Good point, Charlotte, maybe someone tampered with them," Orwell nodded, holding out an arm to invite the others to take it. "We should go check on them, before the other side gets the chance to. Want a ride?" 

"Nope, I think teleporting will work just fine for me," Ted clicked his tongue.

"Well, in that case, do you want to race me?" Orwell smirked.

"You're on." Most of the group took Ted's arm. Paul touched his hand and teleported himself.

Emma, refusing to have contact with Ted when avoidable, and Melissa both chose the lieutenant colonel instead. "Aww, c'mon, Colonel! Even you?" 

She shook her head with a small chuckle. "I've taken you up on that offer before, Orwell, and that's the last time I'm making that mistake." 

"Fine," they sighed, faking offense. "Be that way. Hold on tight, ladies. I don't want you losing any limbs, that'd be too much paperwork. On your mark, get set...." Emma didn't get to hear the rest as Lieutenant Colonel Orwell rocketed forward, snapping their passengers with them. Emma felt the harsh, roaring wind cutting against her skin and was thinking her shoulder might have been dislocated, but the pain didn't last very long. Before she knew it, they were at the Starlight. Orwell sighed and leaned against the door, like they'd been standing in front of the theater for all their life, and poor Melissa looked like she was going to faint. A few seconds later, Ted and his passengers appeared. Paul and Orwell shared a lighthearted smirk. "Well, it's about time! What took you all so long?" 

Ted rolled his eyes. "You had a false start, it doesn't count." 

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," they smirked, turning to open the door. The group walked in and everything looked exactly the same as it has been on the day of the interview, when Emma had met Colonel Schaeffer and gotten her powers. There was luckily nobody else in there, and the spores, upon examination, were exactly as they should be. "Okay. We just need to get them here, let them breathe in the modified spores, and then they'll be fixed, crisis averted, no problem, right?" 

"If it's as easy as that, then why did we leave the Davidsons in his office instead of taking them here?" Emma asked.

"Oh, no, no, no, do not separate those two when they're that invested in each other. They will not hesitate to slaughter you. We were lucky to make it out of there alive, interrupting them once and then taking Mr. Davidson away from Carol's protection." 

"Thanks for almost killing us, by the way, Paul," Ted added with an eye roll. "And they were pretty clearly about to fuck, anyway."

"He means 'thanks for saving our lives,'" Melissa sighed, struggling to clean a spot of paint off of her glasses and trying to ignore Ted's second comment. "But yes, that should work. Hopefully."

"Let me remind you that's a lot easier said than done," Paul mumbled, guilt searing his words. 

"Well, let's get started, then. They only get more powerful as their numbers grow. Take them down now, and we don't have to deal with..." Orwell's words trailed off into an almost violent shudder. Another small reminder that their casual demeanors were very ill-suited for the severity of the situation. "Let's just say that it got pretty interesting last time and leave it at that." 

"Anyone in particular you would want to find first?" 

"Well, we should try to take Hawthorne on before she gets as bad as she did the first episode, since we know she's already turned," Schaeffer offered. "I shouldn't have to tell most of you that she's not exactly a fun person to make an enemy of at her peak of power. That is, assuming she can't gain more than what we've already seen. But if we turn her back now, then she won't be a threat." 

"And maybe she'll even recover in enough time to be able to fight with us," Melissa added, smiling as she walked to the door. "Okay, everyone keep an eye out for her." Emma figured that it would probably be helpful to know who she was keeping an eye out for, but she chose not to say anything.

As soon as the group had stepped out of the theater, they were greeted by a different teenager, this one in a faded tie-dye t-shirt and pretty clearly turned, but just as obviously high out of his mind. "And here's everyone's favorite cryokinetic," Orwell sighed, preparing for a fight. 

He was much easier to take on than they had expected, though, because when Melissa tied his hands behind his back so he couldn't use his powers, he didn't even put up a fight at all. Wow, he really was stoned. Melissa, surprised by the ease of the first (besides the Davidsons) target, carefully led him to the meteor, where he breathed in the altered spores and snapped out of it. So the spores really would work, that was reassuring. "What? What happened?" He mumbled weakly. Emma couldn't tell if that was due to the weed, the spores, or both. 

"Okay, Danny, just stay here for a while, alright?" Melissa said, gently guiding him to one of the few intact seats. She turned back to the others and clasped her hands, a cheerful smile on her face. "One down, everyone else to go. I need a couple of people to stay here and keep watch on him, to make sure that one, he makes a full recovery and two, another one doesn't swoop in and hurt him or the modified spores. We'll switch out every once in a while, so don't worry if you're really just itching to repeatedly risk your life today. Any volunteers?" 

"Uh, Char and I can take the first theater shift," Ted not-so-smoothly offered, resting an arm around Charlotte's shoulders. "I can teleport, you might remember, so if we need to regroup, I'll be there in only a second." 

"Or ten years," Orwell teased.

"Wait, Ted being helpful? Are we sure his personality hasn't changed, even a little?" 

"Thank you very much, Ted, and you too, Charlotte. Just make sure Sam doesn't sneak up on her and pull any stunts," Melissa murmured to him, giving the two of them a grateful smile before she and the others left. Maybe this would be easier than they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Ted and Charlotte are still going to be in the story. Without Ted, who would make weird comments about his boss and coworkers? An essential member of the team, really. (Okay, I'm kidding, I am going to give them more major roles for some later chapters, especially Charlotte.)


	10. Bijou

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chaos. More chaos.

The group had been out of the theater for maybe three minutes, finding nobody yet, when they were stopped by someone Melissa trusted with her life. "Melissa! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Doug?" Melissa smiled as she turned to see exactly who she had hoped it would be, a police officer with long brown hair and a slightly ill-fitting hat. She paused for a second to make sure they were still Doug, which, luckily, they were. Melissa sighed in relief and pulled her partner into a warm hug, giving them a quick kiss as she pulled away.

"Why is there paint in your hair, bijou?"

"About that," Melissa nodded, reaching a hand up to her hair to find the paint. "Before I say anything else, I need to warn you not to trust Sam or Rob. They've both been taken over by their villain counterparts again, and they mean trouble. Stay away from them, okay, honey?"

"Really? Them, too?" 

"I'll take that to mean you've seen some of them already," Paul sighed. 

Melissa bit her lip and whimpered softly as she took Doug's hands in hers. "Nobody's hurt you, have they?" 

"No, I'm fine. Are you all okay?" They asked, taking a second to look at the rest of the group, particularly the unexpected Schaeffer and Orwell and unfamiliar Emma, before turning back to Melissa. "I don't know what I'd do without you, so if any of them have so much as laid a finger on you, I'm declaring war."

"Yes, honey, we're alright, we've got Bill with us," Melissa giggled, adjusting Doug's lopsided hat. "And the spores are still working as a way to stop them, so this will all be over soon. In the meantime, though, be safe and get away. I really don't want these guys getting their hands on you." Emma waited for Ted to make another cold crack before remembering that he was back at the theater. 

"I'd really rather just stay with you, Mel." 

"Please, Doug. What we're doing is dangerous. I'd never forgive myself if I let anything happen to you, even if Bill could heal it. I need you to stay far away from them, and coming with us would be the opposite of that." 

"Well, I don't want them hurting you, either." A small heart-cut peacock topaz crystallized in their hand. Doug gently set it in Melissa's palm and brushed her hair behind her ear. "I have powers, too, you know, and I can do a lot more than just making tiny gemstones out of nothing. I love you, Melissa, and I want to help you however I can."

"I love you, too, honey, and I really appreciate that you want to help, but I'm not letting you stay with us, and that is my final decision. If they got to you again, I would have to fight you to near death, and that would hurt more than anything they could ever do to me. Please, just listen to me and stay out of trouble, alright?" Doug was about to bring up another point when they suddenly froze and their shoulders dropped. "Doug?" Their hand twitched and they mumbled something unintelligible under their breath. "Doug, honey, are you okay?" 

"Just wonderful, baby," they droned, moving their other hand to Melissa's waist. 

"'Baby?' I thought you hated calling me baby...." Melissa's words trailed off into a gasp. She slipped the gem into her blazer pocket and quickly pulled Doug's sunglasses down, biting back a whimper when she saw their eyes. "Oh, no." Light orange. Nora. "I don't think she's ever possessed a ferrokinetic before, she's figuring out how to use their powers. No, no, no, she's going to hurt Doug, I can't let her hurt them, I can't let them get hurt because of me!" 

"It's okay, Melissa, it's not your fault. We just need to find her. She can't be far from here, possession is a very short-ranged power."

"And as long as her focus is on Doug, we aren't in danger, ourselves," Orwell added with a slight nod. "If you didn't know, Emma, she can only possess one person at a time." News to her, probably due to how little the real Nora used her powers. Good to know, though.

"If you see any bizarre weather patterns, say something. Where she goes, Zoey usually likes to follow." The weather was perfectly normal. If Zoey was with her, she was being very patient, which meant Zoey was probably not with her. 

"Just a second," Orwell nodded before speeding around the area, stopping a few seconds later with a very shaken Nora restrained in their arms. She quickly recollected herself and turned her attention to the lieutenant colonel. She didn't need to know the mechanics of superspeed to force Orwell to let go of her and start fistfighting Bill instead.

As soon as she had dropped her control on Doug, they collapsed into Melissa's arms. "What the fuck was that?" They whispered as Melissa helped them back to their feet and shielded them with her hair. A pointless gesture, really, as Nora's power didn't involve physical contact, but a sweet one anyway. 

"That was possession. Nora's here, and she's not herself, but we're going to fix her. It'll all be okay, honey."

"What a shocker, Melissa doesn't care about anyone but her partner," Orwell snarled, still under evil Nora's control. 

"That's not true," Colonel Schaeffer protested, turning the ground under Nora into quicksand. Nora immediately took control of her and changed the quicksand to rock before raising it above the rest of the ground so the others couldn't attack her. Paul grabbed the colonel's arm and pushed the rock back down. He then took Nora's hand before she could cause an earthquake or volcanic eruption with Schaeffer's powers and they possessed each other at the exact same time, causing both of them to stare directly into each other's eyes and babble nonsense insults without being able to possess anyone else. As Emma listened to what the two of them were saying, she made a mental note to ask where "you look like Steve Buscemi afterbirth" and "you little gargoyle fuck" had come from. Colonel Schaeffer stumbled backward and regained her balance before leading Nora back to the Starlight, taking care not to let Paul touch anyone else. "When we get to the theater, Padeska, Orwell, Matthews and I should all make sure we breathe more of the modified spores. It's better to be safe than sorry." 

"You go on ahead, Colonel, we'll be there in a second. Are you doing any better there, Doug?" Melissa asked, hanging back with Emma to try to help them recover. "Nora must have really done a number on you, it doesn't usually take this long." 

"It's not me, it's my powers," they mumbled, fruitlessly moving their hand around. "I can barely use them at all." 

"I'm going to guess that's Rob's doing," Melissa sighed, testing her own powers to find that the same thing had happened to hers. "He has power augmentation, just so you know, Emma. That means he can temporarily strengthen or weaken other people's powers. Very helpful for fighting crime, just as useful for committing it." 

"What was that last part, bijou?" 

"I meant when he's a villain. We need to find him before he catches up to the others and weakens Paul's and lets Nora go." 

Speak of the devil, Orwell zipped over at half-speed. "Nora escaped. She did let Paul go, though, so that's a plus. Come on, Doug, let's get you to the theater."

"What d-" Doug cut themself off and their hand twitched again as Rob dropped his control on their powers and Nora possessed them again. Melissa protectively put her arms around them, once again a useless but sweet move. Doug pushed her off of them and Nora grasped their powers enough to pin the secretary to the ground with metal, dangerously close to cutting into her skin. Emma and Orwell tried to help her up as another police officer– Emma assumed he was Sam, based on how many of him there were– smirked before surrounding Doug and leading them away while they couldn't protest.

"Doug!" Melissa cried, jumping to her feet as the metal disappeared. 

"Calm down, Melissa, it's okay-"

"No, it isn't! We have to go after them, we have to help them, they're going to get hurt!" 

"Oh, Melissa, don't think like that," a familiar voice purred behind them as the sky darkened and the air chilled. Emma whirled around to see exactly the girl she had expected. Zoey had been patient, after all. "Won't you please stay a while?" 


	11. Butterflies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a chaotic mess but like so am I

Charlotte tucked her head into the crook of Ted's neck and took a quiet second to think about what Melissa had thought she hadn't heard her say. That was a valid concern, really, especially considering how vulnerable she knew she was and how Sam had charmed her into joining them four years ago. Ted wouldn't let him do that this time. She had to remind herself that no matter what Sam did, she would still be able to turn him back as soon as she could get him into the theater. But in that moment, just her alone with Ted– well, and Danny, but he was out cold, no pun intended–, she didn't want him in the theater. In that moment, she found herself trusting Ted more than she trusted Sam. But that was just because Sam wasn't himself and Ted was. She did trust the real Sam, right? She wanted to, anyway. There was just something intangible in the way, like there was a sheet of glass dividing them. Her affair with Ted wasn't helping matters much. All it did was take her mind off of her troubles with Sam for a little while. But sometimes that did help. Sometimes that felt better than therapy. Sometimes it worked better, too. 

"Ted?" She softly broke the silence as he ran his fingers through her hair, uncomfortably similar to the way Mr. Davidson had done it earlier with Carol's. It felt nice, but it gave her a pit in her stomach. She couldn't tell if she wanted him to stop or not. 

"Yeah?" 

"Do you think Sam still loves me?" Admittedly a bomb to drop in such a stressful situation, especially on a biased party like himself. 

Ted took a sharp breath, being uncharacteristically careful with his word choice. It was no secret that he didn't like Sam. He wasn't sure if the man had ever loved her in the first place, to be frank. But, on the other hand, he wasn't exactly an expert at hiding his soft spot for Charlotte, either. He did care a lot about her, much more than he was willing to admit to himself, and he knew how fragile she could be, especially when the conversation shifted to this topic. And she was the one fragile thing he would never want to break. So he changed the subject just a little. "Uh, Lottie?" 

"Hm?" 

"Right now, you need to stay away from him." In his eyes, she needed to stay away from Sam 24/7, good or evil. If there even was a good Sam. 

"I know that, Ted," she mumbled, looking away in a desperate attempt to find something else to keep her attention on.

"Really, though. No matter what you want, you can't go after him, or it won't be pretty." He rested an arm around her waist and played with one of her curls. "And that's off-brand for you." 

She giggled slightly and could feel a bittersweet burn spread across her cheeks, the same blush she used to get from Sam. She pushed the bubbly exhilaration out of the way and a crushing guilt took its place. "But I have to go and look for him when our theater shift is over. He's my husband." She swallowed her uncertainty as she added, "I love him." 

"But that's exactly what they want you to do. It's a trap, Lottie. If you chase after him, he'll get you again. It's the same thing with Bill and his kid." 

"Ted, I can't just let them-"

"But you have to," he insisted, gently turning her head to make eye contact with her. She'd never seen him so soft, so tender-hearted, so desperate to keep her safe. She didn't know if it made her feel better or worse. "We can cure him or whatever, but you need to shut him out right now. And I'm not just saying this because I don't like him, honest. I can't give him the chance to take you away and hurt you. That asshole does that enough already." 

That line sent them into a deafening silence as she settled back into his chest. He wasn't wrong, on either count. It was just every few days that she found herself choking back tears while trying to focus on her work. Almost forgetting to feed her cat because she was so caught up in her anxieties. Sitting alone at the marriage counselor's, waiting what seemed like hours on end for him to show up. Disheartenedly agreeing to put off cuddle night yet again, even if they were supposed to do it at least once a month. Impulsively lighting a cigarette or pulling out a flask at work. Sleeping with Ted to distract herself, if only for a moment. If only for a moment. 

She jumped at the sudden sound of thunder outside, accidentally knocking her head into Ted's jaw. He winced and covered a groan as she apologized profusely and looked over to see if the thunder had woken Danny up, which it somehow still hadn't. 

"That's gotta be that barista, Zoey," Ted nodded, rubbing his injury. "Melissa said earlier they've got her, too. She's a real bitch, anyway."

"Be nice, Ted," she admonished, looking out the window to see if she could find the eye of the storm. Not far, not far at all. Just the right distance, actually. "I think she's targeting the others, should I do something?" 

"Uh, I don't know. If you think you should, I can hold down the fort here alone for a while," he offered. 

"Thanks, Ted," she smiled, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. Her stomach knotted with guilt when he gave her a stunned but elated grin in reply. "...you're, um, you're very sweet." 

She figured she should shapeshift into one of the villains and coax Zoey to the theater. Manipulation wasn't her strong suit– assuming the Ted situation wasn't manipulation–, but it was her best shot. When she shapeshifted into other people, though, she couldn't use their powers (until she was at her most powerful, which she was not), so as a failsafe, she could always just shapeshift into something actually threatening, like a lion or Melissa when Ted insults her cat. Thinking of those she had heard were already turned, one immediately stood out to her, the one she knew all too well. Sam. She still remembered everything about him– the new personality that soon molded to 'replicate' hers, the way his speech and vocal intonation had changed, his body language, his cheesy evil laugh, the confusion when she had first seen him split into two of himself, the pure terror that had replaced a swoon when he had tricked her and turned her to their side the first time. She still remembered every little detail, and her power allowed her to replicate it perfectly. That is, assuming she could keep up the act. She knew she could be very convincing as her 'subjects' (as the other version of herself had called them) under the right circumstances, but she also knew she wasn't exactly the best under pressure. All she could do was hope that she would be able to do a good enough imitation of him to trick Zoey into coming to the theater. No, not trick. 'Trick' was too mean of a word, tricking was what Sam had done. Tricking was what he was still doing, to put it frankly, but maybe that was something she couldn't bring herself to accept.

Charlotte winced at the reflexive scowl on Ted's face at the sight of her husband, even if he knew it was really her. "Oh, um, I'm sorry," she stammered, coming to the sad realization that she hadn't heard those words or tone in Sam's voice in an alarmingly long time. 

He quickly looked away in the hopes that she hadn't noticed and bounced his knee. "No, Lottie, you're fine." 

Another lighting flash and a roll of thunder. "I, um- I should go. Um, goodbye, Ted," she nodded as she briskly walked to the door. The last thing she said before she got into character was a small "please, stay safe!" 

~•~

As soon as Rob had let Nora overpower Paul and escape, Orwell sent the colonel a quick salute and left to grab the other three before the barista could do anything to them, leaving Schaeffer, Bill, and a still-recovering Paul to make a brief scan of the area for anyone else before they returned. As they were looking, the sky darkened and there was a sharp crack of thunder. Of course. And where else would it be coming from but the exact place the others were? 

"Should we go?" Bill asked. 

"Give it a few minutes," another voice snarled behind him. He turned to see a young boy with curly hair, suspenders, and a bowtie smirking at him. "I'm sure the storm will clear as soon as she's finished with your little friends."

"Ah, another one. If memory serves, this one can create forcefields," Colonel Schaeffer recalled, forming rocks around his feet to anchor him to the ground. 

"Precisely," he chuckled, demonstrating by breaking the rock apart as soon as she had made it. "I'm impressed, Colonel, you aren't usually so quick-witted." He immediately shoved Paul into Bill with another forcefield, taking away Nora's possession before he could use it. "Maybe this time you've got the brains to join us." 

"Yeah, no thanks, it wasn't too fun the first time around," Paul shrugged, fighting fire with fire by grabbing his hand and slamming him to the ground with another forcefield. Bill winced as he heard a crack, just barely resisting the urge to heal him. Oliver made a quick recovery and they fought, shooting and deflecting forcefields, Bill healing Paul's injuries, until he noticed a familiar gleam in Paul's eye. The last time he'd seen it was four years ago, when Paul had first gotten his powers. Not a good sign. 

"Paul, stop!" Bill cried, grabbing his arm. As soon as he stopped using his powers, his eyes turned back to normal. "Your eye, I could see-"

"Yeah, I could feel him taking over, too," Paul interrupted shakily as Schaeffer took the reigns in fighting Oliver. "He's gone now, though, so I think it's all good. I, uh, I should probably get to the theater as soon as possible, I need to get some of the spores." 

"But why would he...?" Bill mumbled, raising a hand to heal the colonel's kneecap as quickly as he could as she, ever persistent, kept fighting like nothing had happened.

"I think it was because Nora possessed me earlier," he faltered, nervously tapping his wrists. 

"If that's the case, then Schaeffer, Doug, and Orwell might be in danger, too," Bill nodded, shooting a quick glance to the storm. "Or maybe just Doug, since the other two were never turned." There was a pause in the conversation before Oliver collapsed to the ground, jolting their attention back to him and the colonel. 

"Alright, got him," she sighed as she hauled him up and gave them a small nod. Bill healed any injuries Oliver might have caused her and Paul looked her over for any sign of the same thing having happened to her, which there were luckily none of. She cleared her throat when she noticed their stares and looked at them expectantly. "Is it because I knocked him unconscious?" 

"No, uh, we just need to get to the theater." Paul noticed that Bill was nervously biting his lip and added, "Orwell will catch the others up to us in a flash, and we can heal this kid as soon as we cure him, I promise." He sighed in relief. They set off toward the theater, Bill shooting a few tense glances back to the storm. 

A few minutes later, they saw Sam walking their way. The fact that he was coming from the direction of the theater, i.e. Charlotte, was not a good thing, nor was it that Colonel Schaeffer had already noted him as turned earlier. Schaeffer immediately pushed Oliver toward Paul and enclosed Sam in a wall of stone so he couldn't replicate himself. She was about to take him out when a bird flew out from inside the trap and shapeshifted into Charlotte just as she landed. "That wasn't Sam, it was me. I'm sorry, I should have said something." 

Colonel Schaeffer dropped her hand and the wall crumbled into nothing. As Bill watched Charlotte shapeshift back into Sam, he asked, "not to sound harsh, but what are you doing? Aren't you and Ted supposed to be keeping watch at the theater?" 

"Don't worry, he's still there with Danny. I heard the storm and figured there was trouble. Where are the others?" 

"In the storm, taking Zoey down," Paul explained. "Doug's with them, too."

"Why aren't you helping them?" 

"This kid stopped us before we could, and now we should probably take him to the theater before he wakes up." 

"Oh, okay. Well, um, we'll hopefully be joining you in a few minutes," she smiled, her hesitantly cheerful tone sounding a little off in Sam's voice. 

"Are you sure you should be...." Bill trailed off as she waved them goodbye and set off toward the storm, ignoring him. 

A few seconds of storm-excluding silence later, Paul reluctantly started again on the walk to the theater. "Colonel, when you just used your powers, was there, um, anything wrong with them?" 

"Negative," she said slowly, confusedly testing them on a small rock. 

"That's good," Paul nodded. "It's just that when Bill grabbed my arm earlier, before you started fighting this kid, he stopped my counterpart from taking over and we were thinking it might have something to do with Nora, but if you're okay, then it's probably okay. Okay?" 

She gave them a slightly confused but overall unimpressed look and they both shook it off as they followed her back to the theater. It was all okay, just like Paul had said. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. 

~•~

Orwell tapped Emma's shoulder (so fast, it was like a tiny jackhammer) and whispered, barely slow enough to be understood and just loudly enough to be heard over the storm, "I'll distract Zoey, can you talk to Melissa? Her power's the only one of ours with any offense, we need her help. We can probably get Doug back, but we have to do this first." 

Emma nodded and Orwell gave her a quick smile before bolting towards Zoey. She turned back to Melissa and gently took the secretary's hand, putting her all into turning them invisible. It took a few seconds and a lot of effort, but she finally did. She sighed, half in relief that she could pull it off and half in pensiveness, trying to gather her thoughts as quickly as she could. She never knew what to say, especially when people had lost their loved ones, but she could try, at the very least, and, hearing a clap of thunder, she knew she had to. "Okay, Melissa, I know it's hard, but you really have to focus on Zoey right now," she murmured, trying to comfort her as she formed a makeshift shelter for them with her hair.

"But if I stay here, they'll do whatever horrible things they want to Doug and it'll be all my fault for not stopping them!" 

Emma was caught off-guard by the frantic, desperate tone from someone who was usually so much more composed and collected. It was almost hard to believe that this was the same girl who had been consoling someone just as hysterical earlier that day. Everyone needs a little comfort sometimes, she supposed. "It's not your fault, and we won't let them. We can look for them as soon as she's out of the way, I promise, but Orwell and I need you. The faster we beat Zoey and get her in the theater, the faster we can find Doug, alright?" 

"But we'll be too late by then, they-" 

"No, no, they'll be okay," she interrupted assuringly as Zoey created an impenetrably hazy fog throughout the small area, on top of the pouring rain she had already conjured earlier. Melissa was still close enough to see, and both she and her shelter were still invisible, so only Emma could. "I think it's impossible for Orwell to be late, anyway. You still have the diamond, right?" 

"It's a peacock topaz," Melissa nodded as she reached into her blazer pocket to take out the turquoise gem. It was a little hard to see, due to the storm-darkened sky.

"Whatever," Emma rolled her eyes, not really seeing the point of the correction. "Why did they give that to you?"

"I- I don't know, Emma."

"To remind you that they have powers, they have self-defense, and that they love you," she murmured, outlining its heart cut with her fingertip. Cheesy as all hell, yeah, but she could tell by the subtle change in Melissa's facial expression that it was helping. 

But then her eyes widened and her face fell. "But it doesn't matter if they have powers, not against those three! If Nora ever lets them go, which she won't until it's too late, Rob will leave them powerless and they'll be butchered in a heartbeat!" She mewled, her voice cracking slightly on the last few words. 

"Don't say that, Melissa. We'll go back for them, but we can only hold Zoey's attention for so long," she said, glancing toward where she had seen the lieutenant colonel dart to earlier before being reminded of Zoey's fog. Her invisibility faltered slightly as there was another flash of light outside the shelter, followed by a sharp crack of thunder. She peeked outside and could just barely make out two figures through the haze, one she knew was Orwell speeding out of the way of Zoey's lightning bolts. They were too fast for her aim– quick as lightning, you might say–, she hadn't struck them. Yet. "Your power's the only one of ours with any offense, we need your help," she echoed their earlier sentiment as she turned Melissa's head up as gently as she could, moving the hair shelter slightly by extension. "Please?" 

Melissa closed her fist around the gemstone, met Emma's eyes, and nodded slightly, wiping her tears away with her blazer sleeve. She dropped the shelter and stood up, preparing herself for a fight as she slipped the stone back into her pocket. Taking her momentary invisibility to her advantage, she rushed towards Zoey so she could get close enough to see her through the fog and promptly manipulated the barista's hair into a blindfold. The storm deteriorated, but then came back as strong as ever a few seconds later as she pulled her hair away before Melissa could restrain her hands. Zoey turned the rain into a blizzard and determined where her target was hiding in plain sight while the shivering and confused secretary couldn't see her. 

Before she could do anything, Zoey interrupted herself with a gasp. She cleared up the storm and waltzed over toward the now present Sam, twirling her hair. Emma was wondering when he had gotten back there so fast when Melissa cleaned off her glasses and noticed him, too. The last she had seen of him, he had been leading her partner away to their inevitable demise, so to say that he was an unwelcome sight to her would be an understatement. 

Emma and Orwell could really do nothing but watch in confused astonishment as Sam was instantly flooded with affection and infatuation from Zoey and aggression choked out through sobs on Melissa's part, both of which seemed to stun him almost to tears. He stammered something under his breath and shot tense glances back and forth between the two of them, trembling slightly. 

Then Zoey pulled him into a kiss and he fell apart. 

The second she pulled away and took her hand out of his hair, he pushed her off of him and Charlotte couldn't keep the form anymore. Melissa's eyes widened as she saw who she had really been sob-yelling at and she apologized, just then looking just to Charlotte's left and realizing the implications of Zoey clinging to her side when she had thought she was Sam. She apologized again, quickly turned Charlotte away from Zoey and tried to comfort her, once again switching her role in these conversations on a dime. 

Orwell took the cue and drew Zoey's attention away again before she could recollect her thoughts and ambush the vulnerable targets in front of her. Emma tried her best to help them keep her occupied until Melissa had done all she could do to help Charlotte recover, which turned out to not be enough for her to be able to fight. So while Zoey was distracted, Melissa wrapped her hair around her and held tightly onto Orwell, prompting Emma and Charlotte to do the same and making the whirlwind journey back to the Starlight. 

Zoey, upon arrival, brushed off her shock and tried to create a storm before Melissa forced her into the theater and she breathed in the spores. She glared back at all of them, Melissa especially, with a look of mixed fear, grief, dejection, relief, and anger. At least her eyes were green now. Refusing to say a word to anyone, she sulked to a seat in the corner and hovered a miniature raincloud over herself, as if to block out the rest of the world. If anyone tried to come over and talk to her, she would simply growl and flick a tiny lightning bolt as a threat. Soon enough, everyone gave up. 

Charlotte curled into a ball on one of the chairs and stared into space, looking like she was on the verge of tears. She also wouldn't respond to anyone, and they figured it was probably wise to leave her to herself for a little while. 

"Where's Doug?" Bill asked tensely after making sure Danny and Oliver were okay, breaking the silence with a question he almost knew the answer to. 

Melissa gave Emma a desperate, pleading look. Puppy-dog eyes. "Can we please go look for them now?" 

"Let me guess, the only person Melissa cares about got taken away and she can't handle it?" Ted snarked.

"Does it seem like I only care about Doug?" Melissa asked shakily, sinking into a chair. "Because I do care about other people, I promise!" 

"I'll take that as a 'yes.' So now Little Miss Knight-in-Shining-Armor wants to go and save them? Face it, princess, they're long gone."

"Don't say that!" Melissa sobbed, subconsciously shielding herself with her hair. 

"Ted!" Charlotte admonished, looking up to send him a scolding look. "What has gotten into you? Please, have a heart!" She turned to Melissa and her tone softened. "Ted said something earlier that wasn't so harsh. I know it's hard, and I know you're scared for them. But you can't go after them, or the enemy will target you for sure. They're your weakness, Melissa, and the other side knows that just as well as we do." 

"But I have to look for them!" 

"But you can't," Charlotte said gently, a small tear rolling down her cheek. "That's exactly what they want you to do, Melissa. They're luring you into a trap. You can't go looking for them without an organized plan, just like I can't go after Sam, like Bill can't go after Alice, like Colonel Schaeffer can't go after Carol."

Emma bit her lip. There was a glaring difference that she found it hard not to mention. Those three had all been confirmed as turned. Doug hadn't. With Doug, there was at least a chance at preventing it, a chance which Melissa would have to deliberately choose not to take. That chance was extremely dangerous, yes, almost as dangerous as chasing after someone they knew was turned, but it was still more of a choice than Charlotte, Bill, or Schaeffer had. But she knew better than to point that out, for Melissa's sake, so she just kept it to herself.

"But she did go after Carol-"

"And we almost died. Listen to me for a second, okay? You can't follow them." 

"Well, can we at least keep an eye out for them?" 

"Yes, absolutely. We will be able to cure them, I promise, but you have to wait for Doug to make the first move." 

Melissa looked up and cracked a hesitant smile, admitting defeat. "Been there, done that, got the t-shirt." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to note that this is the first chapter Charlotte has shapeshifted at all


End file.
